1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protector for protecting a heartbeat-synchronous pulse wave detecting probe used on a limb of a living subject which limb is supported on a support member, from contacting a medical staff such as a doctor or nurse.
2. Related Art Statement
For monitoring blood pressure, or detecting arterial pulse wave, of a patient during, or after, a surgical operation, it is practiced to set a probe on a limb of the patient lying on an operating table and thereby detect pulse waves produced from the patient in synchronism with his or her heartbeat. Such heartbeat-synchronous pulse wave detecting probes include, for example, an inflatable cuff used for measuring blood pressure of a subject by detecting "oscillometric" pulse wave, or Korotkoff sound, produced from an upper arm or thigh when the air pressure in the cuff is changed, and a pulse wave sensor adapted to be set on a wrist of a subject for detecting pressure pulse wave produced from a radial artery in the wrist with the artery being partially flattened under the sensor.
When a doctor or nurse attends to the patient on the side of the limb on which the pulse wave detecting probe is set, during or after the surgical operation, the doctor or nurse may contact the probe, thereby displacing the probe or even causing noise to be mixed with the pulse wave from the probe. These problems lead to lowering the accuracy of detection of the pulse wave. However, if the medical staff perform his or her work by taking care not to contact the pulse wave probe for avoiding those problems, then the efficiency of performance of the work is lowered.